


Shattered Mirror

by Lawlieter



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, F/M, Identity Reveal, i love these cutiepies, so of course they must go through pain
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-13
Updated: 2016-11-20
Packaged: 2018-05-06 10:47:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5413949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lawlieter/pseuds/Lawlieter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I... really like you, Ladybug."</p><p>"Chat... There's someone else."</p><p>Or the fic where Chat Noir confesses his love again and everything seems to go wrong for him (and Ladybug) afterward.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Courage

"My lady, how _clawful_ it must have been to be fighting without me." Chat Noir loved a grand entrance, especially for his Ladybug during an akuma battle. The villain in question seemed to have been a frustrated arcade-goer, because they've taken on the name "The Claw" and had all the features of the classic claw-machine game, except without all the cute prizes.

Ladybug rolled her eyes but smiled at him anyway. "You're late." The Claw hurled a rainstorm of coins at the duo, and Chat expertly deflected them using his baton as a fan-like barrier.  
"I would say I'm just _on dime_." 

"Oh my god, Chat." He smiled wide. He loved this. Crime-fighting, battling akumas, bantering with his lady. It was so natural, so easy. He didn't have to think. It was the only time when Adrien didn’t have to worry about every little thing he did. He just got to be, and he loved it. 

That's why he was absolutely terrified of what he knew he had to do. 

\---  
"Miraculous Ladybug!" With a bright light and pink glow, the city returned itself to normal again, and Ladybug and Chat commenced in their ceremonial fist-bump. His heart was pumping, blood rushing from the adrenaline. He loved the rush, the feeling he got during a fight, and winning made it that much better. If Ladybug was feeling anything like this, then Chat had a good chance. This was his chance. He took a deep breath.

"Ladybug?" _Stay confident. Stay cool._

She turned around to face him, blue eyes shining bright. 

You can't back out again. 

"Can I talk to you?" He looked over at the un-Akuma'd human lying on the sidewalk. Chat was pretty sure his name was Paul. Or maybe Pat. It didn't matter. "Alone?" 

Chat had been trying to work up the courage to confess to his lady for sometime now. It had been months since his Valentine’s Day confession failed miserably, and he'd spent the last few weeks building up the courage. He even got chastised in class a few times from his teacher- it was really hard to focus when you spent all of your time daydreaming about asking out the superhero of your dreams. Nino had mentioned his absent-mindedness to him a few times, but Adrien had laughed it off and said something about modeling. He was pretty sure Alya and Marinette said something too, but for the life of him he couldn't remember. He couldn't focus until he did this. 

Soon enough, they were on a rooftop overlooking Paris, away from prying eyes and excuses for Chat. It was now or never. 

"I... really like you, Ladybug." Her superhero name felt wrong on his tongue, but he feared that calling her by his nickname for her would make him sound disingenuous, and he needed her to understand how serious he was right now. "I might even love you."

Chat looked away from her, letting time stand still while he waited for her response. The city skyline was gorgeous right now, the city's near-emptiness at this time of night heightened by the akuma attack only moments before. Her voice brought his attention back to her. 

"Chat..." Her voice trailed off, and she looked down, away from his face, which he knew had to give away how desperately he wanted this. 

"There's someone else." It was quiet, almost a whisper in a way that's so unlike Ladybug, but his cat-ears heard it anyway. He wished they hadn't. 

"Who?" Chat said the words before realizing what he was saying- maybe he shouldn't have- but there were no time for regrets right now. The cat-figured boy was hopeless, and he needed answers. He needed to know who was so great that they shined to Ladybug, of all people. Beautiful, unattainable Ladybug. 

"It's not my right to give his name. " Her words were stilted, Chat noticed. This wasn’t something she’d be changing her mind about. He knew she was right anyway. She was always right. She kept going, voice lighter.

"But he's a guy in my class. Beautiful, kind, smart. Magnetic, honestly. I've liked him for awhile. "

_I've loved you for awhile, too._

"He... He's lonely, I can tell. He needs someone."

 _I need you._

Chat smiled. It wasn't genuine; in fact, it was all he could manage to not choke up crying right there. But he was Adrien Agreste, and Adrien had a lot of practice controlling his emotions. 

"He's a lucky guy." The irony of his words were not lost on him, but it was true, and he said it. 

Ladybug looked at him then, concern written all over her masked face. She was standing there, only a few feet away from Chat, but feeling like she was miles away now. The moonlight backlit her in a way that would make the most gorgeous portrait of her. 

_I have to stop thinking of her like that._

"I should go." 

\---

_"I...really like you, Ladybug. "_

Marinette laid on her bed revisiting the words over and over again. Chat had confessed to her...and he had actually seemed serious. She was just so dumbfounded, so taken aback. It was so easy to counter his flirtatiousness, it was normal for them. But Marinette had never thought he had actually been serious about it. Chat was just that kind of guy. 

But, he had said he liked her with the most serious look she had ever seen from her costumed partner. He even used the word "love." Marinette wanted to scream. She settled for a frustrated sigh into her pillow. 

It was at that noise that her small red friend perked her head up. 

"Are you okay, Mar?" Tikki asked her. Marinette turned away from her pillow to look at her little Kwami.

Tikki was hovering over the girl, eyes wide. Tikki’s eyes were huge, Marinette noticed. She wondered why she had never really noticed that before. They were so expressive, and in that moment they showed nothing except concern for Marinette. It was touching. 

"I don't know, Tikki. I don't know what to do." She covered her face with her hands, not wanting anyone to see her like this. Her cheeks were warm and she felt flushed. Marinette couldn’t even tell how she was feeling. Guilty? Embarassed? Nervous? Her stomach was fluttering like it was filled with Hawkmoth’s butterflies. 

Tikki pulled apart Marinette’s fingers, prying her way into the girl’s field of view.

"You were honest with him, and that's what matters. Chat isn't the kind of person to hold it against you, and I'm sure you will remain the best of friends." Marinette held her Kwami close. Tikki always knew what to say to make her feel better. 

She went to bed that night and dreamed of piercing green eyes. When she woke up, she convinced herself they were Adrien's. 

\---

“Marinette, honey, you’re going to be late!” Sabine’s voice echoed up the stairs and into Marinette’s bedroom, jolting her awake. She couldn’t believe she had overslept again. 

Rushing to get ready, Marinette put on whatever clothes she grabbed out of her closet first, hopping into her signature pink leggings, toothbrush in mouth. This had to stop being her morning routine. 

She was almost out the door before her father stepped into her path. This couldn’t be good. Her usually cheerful father was looking down at her, arms crossed in what looked like an attempt to be stern. 

“Marinette,” he said, and then coughed into his hand, adjusting his tone of voice to sound more threatening. “Marinette, you can’t keep showing up late to school.”

Marinette shifted, trying to keep her composure. “I know, Dad, I was just up so late doing homework and with student council duties and Alya’s birthday coming up, I just lost track of time…”

Tom softened, clearly feeling sympathetic toward his daughter’s troubles. 

“Okay, but if this keeps up, I’m going to start putting you on morning kitchen duty so you can’t oversleep.” 

“I’ll be on time, I promise!” Marinette exclaimed as the doorbell chimed on her exit. She could not let herself get stuck with morning kitchen duty. 

\---

Somehow, Marinette was able to stumble into her class right as the class bell rang, signaling she was safe. She sighed in relief to herself, and thought she might have heard a similar reaction from her purse-dweller. She sat down next to Alya and tried to gain her composure, but Alya was already prodding her for her attention. She looked over at her redheaded friend, who was discreetly nodding her head toward the empty seat in front of Marinette. Adrien. He was absent today. 

Marinette’s head was spinning. Adrien was never absent unless some extremely important modeling event was scheduled, but she knew his schedule and he doesn’t have anything of the sort today. And Adrien had been acting strange for the last few days. What if he was sick? 

Alya slid her notebook toward Marinette, who peeked at the note scrawled on it. 

_Nino says he called in sick today._

Her suspicions confirmed, Marinette quickly jotted a reply to Alya. _We should bring him his homework after school._ Alya nodded, and both girls turned their attention back to class.

\---

Marinette, Alya and Nino stood outside of the Agreste Mansion, hesitant to ring the doorbell. It was an intimidating place afterall, and Nino wasn’t even supposed to be there considering Adrien’s father forbid him from coming back. Marinette’s hand stalled in front of the button; she was obviously going over every excuse in her head for why she shouldn’t press it. Alya quickly stepped in and pressed it for her bashful friend, but stepped back to let Marinette speak. A snake-like camera pointed itself in Marinette’s face, startling her.

“What’s your business?” A woman’s voice spoke from the intercom. 

“I-uh, we- we came by to give Adrien his uh, his homework!” She spoke in an octave higher than usual. “And h-his class notes. We uh, we wanted to see if he was okay.”

A metal chute opened from the wall. “Drop them inside.” The woman spoke again. Marinette moved to drop them when Alya stepped in front to speak.

“Hello! Not to be persistent or anything, but we were really hoping to see Adrien. The notes are kind of in my handwriting, which is sort of unreadable to anyone but me and we thought we could go over it all with him so he’d understand.”

“Very well.” The gates opened up, and the trio stepped toward the front door. This was the first time that Marinette was inside the gates of the Agreste Mansion. Well, at least the first time she was when she wasn’t fighting an akuma. 

Coming up to the front door, they opened for them, Gabriel’s assistant Natalie ushering them inside. They stood in the middle of the foyer as Natalie seemed to contact Adrien through some Mansion Intercom System. 

“Adrien, you have guests.” She spoke into the system. 

“I’ll be right down.” Adrien’s voice spoke back. Marinette’s heart fluttered at the sound.

Natalie took her leave then, leaving the group alone to wait for the young master. She clearly had other work she needed to attend to. Marinette looked around at the marble accents on the floors and walls, but her eyes couldn’t shy away from the insanely large family portrait hanging on the wall. It was Adrien standing with his father, Gabriel Agreste in a stoic pose. Neither was smiling, and she couldn’t tell if Adrien was even happy in the portrait. The all black wardrobe looked incredible on him, however, and she couldn’t help but stare. 

“Nino, Marinette, Alya!” Adrien wasn’t shouting, but his words were projected much louder than Marinette anticipated in the large room. It surprised her, causing her to stumble backwards a few steps. She was in Adrien’s house, and Adrien was right there. 

“Hey dude, we brought you your homework! And notes from classes today.” Nino offered his best friend. Alya nodded hopefully, and interjected for her own best friend.

“Marinette brought treats!” Alya was always painting her friend in a good light to Adrien. He had to notice her eventually.  
Adrien stayed at the top of the stairwell. “Thanks guys, really. But I don’t want to get any of you sick. Is it okay if we postpone the study session?”

Marinette couldn’t believe it. Adrien was ushering them away. She felt so stupid for thinking of this idea now.

“Are you sure, man?” Nino was eyeing his friend carefully, evidently concerned by his response. Adrien nodded.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” He took a pause. “But hey...another time?” 

“Sure thing, Adrien. I’ll just leave the notes on the table.” Alya added. She poked at Marinette to follow, and she did, setting down a bag of assorted pastries next to the notes. 

They all left the mansion in a haze, confused by what just happened. Alya patted Marinette on the back, trying to cheer up her newly let-down friend. Nino seemed more concerned than ever.

“There is something seriously wrong with that guy.”


	2. Amity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who read/kudo'd/commented on the first chapter! I am really excited to tell this story- I love Adrinette as a ship, and want to explore that dynamic of becoming friends to maybe something more. This was going to be longer originally, but I felt I was rushing through things and decided to split this chapter into two. Hope you enjoy!

Adrien paced his room, trying to shake off the guilt he felt from dismissing his friends. They were trying to help, but he couldn’t let them. Since when did he start pushing away the only people that showed any effort in caring about him?

Plagg, his mouse-like Kwami, seemed content to watch Adrien’s antics from the comfort of the bed. 

Adrien stopped pacing. He ran his fingers through his hair a few times, trying to gain composure. Eventually, he sat down at his desk and tapped mindlessly on the metal. He couldn’t let his friends see him like this. He wasn’t himself. He wasn’t calm, or cool, or happy. He wasn’t able to turn off the Chat side of him and it was driving him mad. 

Chat. Adrien always wondered how much of his alter ego was really him. He had always figured it was his more natural self, free to make his own choices and say what was actually on his mind. It just turned out that most of the time a certain polka-dotted superhero was usually on his mind, and his computer. He turned on his desktop to reveal three separate monitors displaying his crush, and the source of his newfound heartache. 

Ladybug. He never loved the name that much, which is why he usually referred to her with his nickname. Bugs were supposed to be small, insignificant. For Adrien, she was anything but. Would it be weird to call her that now? Or would it be weirder to keep calling her his lady? Why was he even worrying about this?

But Adrien knew that as much as he tried to forget everything, her friendship was still the most important thing to him. She wanted that much, at least. And he’d push every romantic feeling to the very back of his mind if he had to. She didn’t deserve negativity from him just because she rejected him. Friends. He could do that.

Friends. _Shit._

“I have to apologize to Nino,” Adrien said aloud. Plagg seemed amused by Adrien’s words. 

“What about those girls?” he asked, finally getting up to fly around the pile of stuff Alya and Marinette left. He was tugging on a red ribbon that tied together Marinette’s bag of pastries, trying to free one. “One of them left food! It might not be cheese, but a Kwami’s gotta eat.”

Adrien snatched the bag away from Plagg. He looked at the contents carefully. It was filled with an assortment of things that must be from Marinette’s family bakery: cookies, pastries, even a few bagels. It warmed his heart as he looked at them; his friends were really generous. He felt a pang of guilt for lying to them. Adrien moved away from his desk and looked toward his Kwami.

“How do you just up and tell your friends that you asked out your best friend who happens to be a superhero because you are also a superhero and got rejected by said superhero?” 

“Uh, come again?” Plagg’s eyes were still on the clear bag of goodies. 

Adrien sighed.“Nevermind,” he said defeated, as he fell down onto his bed. Adrien took a single cookie from the bag and handed the rest to Plagg.

“You can have them,” Adrien told Plagg, who zipped into the bag before Adrien even finished the sentence. As the small black creature made noises of approval from inside the bag, Adrien rolled the cookie in his hand mindlessly, a small smile creeping across his face.

 -----------------------------

Marinette, Alya and Nino were strolling through the park, discussing Adrien’s newly acquired sickness. 

“He doesn’t really seem sick,” Nino said, suspicious. “I think the dude’s just fighting with his old man.”

Alya chuckled as the three stopped next to the fountain at the center of the park. Marinette sat on the edge of the fountain, watching the water flow, while Alya and Nino stayed standing. Marinette was only vaguely aware of their words, lost in her own thoughts of how Adrien looked when she saw him. 

“You always think it’s his father’s fault, Nino.” Alya poked him in the chest. “Just because _you_ don’t like Gabriel Agreste doesn’t mean he’s always the issue.” 

Marinette ran her fingers through the water next to her. She thought about Gabriel Agreste in the family portrait hanging in their foyer. She thought about how devastatingly sad Adrien looks in that photo. He looked the same just now, too, when he sent them away. 

“I think...I think he could be sad.” Marinette spoke up, interrupting her friends. She wished she was paying better attention to their conversation. Nino looked thoughtful, and Alya sat down next to Marinette, holding her hands excitedly. 

Alya had that look on her face that could only mean bad news. Marinette inched closer anyway; she was interested, whether it led to her own demise or not. Alya’s face lit up when she spoke.

“I think Adrien could use a pick-me-up. Maybe a gift of some sort….?” 

Alya stood up and resumed talking to Nino, letting her friend take the hint. Marinette stayed sitting down, thinking about Alya’s words.

Of course! What could Marinette do as Adrien’s classmate and sort-of friend? She found herself lacking the words, but she could make him a gift. It wouldn’t be the first time she had shown her feelings for the boy through her actions. There had been the scarf she made him for his birthday last fall, and of course the Valentine’s Day poem. Obviously those didn’t _exactly_ work out, but she could try again. Plus, he had liked the scarf anyway! Marinette’s head was already busy with measurement numbers and design patterns. 

“That’s it!” she exclaimed, jumping up to her two friends, who were busy in Ladybug-talk. Nino’s eyebrows furrowed.

“You think Chat Noir is Mr. Damocles?” Nino asked, confused. 

“What? Oh—uh—no. That’s silly,” Marinette said. “I just meant, I could make Adrien a gift! You know, to help cheer him up with whatever he’s going through!” 

Alya patted her friend on the back. “Atta girl! You can do it! What’ll you make him?” 

“You’ll see!” she said, already moving away from her friends. “But I’ve got to get started right away!” She turned around and dashed away from Alya and Nino, leaving them alone to theorize more about their favorite superheroes. Alya adjusted her glasses and looked at Nino.

“So you really don’t think Mr. Damocles is Chat Noir?” Alya asked. Nino chuckled and linked his arm with hers. 

“You can’t be serious, A. The man has a beard.”

 --------------------------

Marinette bolted through the bakery door at ladybug-fast speeds. Her parents were behind the counters, still attending to some customers. 

“Hi Marinette. How was sch—” Sabine was cut off by her energetic daughter.

“Hi Mom, Hi Dad! Can’t talk, too much homework!” Marinette barely finished blurting out the words before she was in her room and ready to work. Closing the door behind her, she immediately opened her purse and let Tikki out. 

“Are you okay Marinette? You’ve had a long day and didn’t get a lot of sleep after that Akuma Attack last night,” Tikki said, concerned. 

“I’ll be fine,” she assured her Kwami as she opened the drawer in her bedside table. “I even have a little treat for you, since you were so good and didn’t sneak into the ones I had for Adrien.” 

Marinette placed half a donut on the top of the table for Tikki to enjoy, who zipped over to the plate of food immediately. As Tikki nibbled on the sugary treat, Marinette took out her sketchpad and sat down at her desk. It only took her minutes to sketch out the design she wanted. 

“What are you making for Adrien?” Tikki asked. Marinette perked up, excited to talk about her design now that she had gotten it on paper.

“Mittens!” 

“In May? It’s the beginning of Summer, Mar!” Tikki didn’t need clothes herself, but a five-thousand year old Kwami picks up on a few human habits over the years, including their clothing needs.

Marinette giggled and started pulling out different colors of wool. “I know, but I always find that warm things cheer me up when I’m sad. So even if he can’t wear them for a few months, I hope that when he looks at them it’ll warm his heart up even a little bit so he can be happy again.”

Tikki stopped eating the donut to move closer to her partner. She nuzzled up against her face, showing her affection. 

“This will definitely cheer him up. It’s impossible to be upset when someone has a Marinette in their life.”

Marinette blushed, flattered by her Kwami. In an instant, Marinette put down the wool fabrics she was measuring and quickly grabbed her sketchpad again. Tikki’s words reminded her of a very important part of the design she had almost forgotten. Her signature.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love feedback of all kinds!!! It helps me out a lot.
> 
> My tumblr is starlightdancers.tumblr.com if you want to message me on there. Thank you for reading. I currently have at least 6 chapters planned out, but it'll probably me more...so we'll see.


	3. Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya has some fun, Chat meets his princess, and Marinette finds some courage.

Alya shifted in her seat anxiously. Class was only minutes away from starting, and there was no sign yet of her best friend. How was she always so late? She thought about pulling out her phone and texting her, but their teacher was already in class, getting ready to start the lesson.

Adrien was here, too. Marinette wouldn’t want to miss this. He was wearing her scarf! It was May, and Adrien Agreste was wearing a scarf that Marinette made. Alya was so frustrated with these two.

Miss Bustier faced the class, and was clearly getting ready to start the lesson. Alya looked over at the empty seat next to her. _Come on, Marinette._

“Welco—” Miss Bustier started, but was immediately cut off by a loud sneeze. Alya had “sneezed” and “accidentally” knocked over all of her books off of her desk, letting them fall into the space behind Adrien and Nino. 

“Ah, sorry Miss, it was an accident.” Alya said as she got up to collect her books. Miss Bustier put her hand on her hip, waiting for Alya to return to her seat. Adrien and Nino turned to help her.

“What was that?” Nino whispered to Alya, one eyebrow raised. 

“Marinette’s late.” Alya tried to play it off cool, but she was honestly worried about her best friend. She was constantly late to school, falling asleep in class and disappearing at the worst times. While Marinette was always a bit of a klutz and bad at keeping track of time, it had gotten worse in the last year or so. And Alya had a bad feeling that Marinette was keeping something from her. Something important. It made her feel helpless. 

She finished collecting her books, and looked over at the door once more. Still no sign of Marinette. She walked back to her seat extremely slowly, drawing out the time as much as she could. Alya felt silly, honestly. But she had to be there for Marinette. She had to be the best friend she could. 

“If you could hurry yourself back to your seat so we could get started—” Miss Bustier was once again cut off, but this time by the classroom door. An exhausted-looking Marinette sheepishly made her way into the classroom, failing to be inconspicuous. 

Alya felt her shoulders relax as she sat down. Marinette made it just in time. The teacher looked a little annoyed, but like she would let it go. Marinette sat down next to her, looking at Alya with a questioning face. Alya gave her a smile and a thumbs up. All was good. 

“Are you seriously going to let her off without punishment?” Alya heard the piercingly annoying voice and knew there was no hope now. When Chloe wanted something, it was difficult to stop her. Usually the only one brave enough to stand up to her was Marinette, and she was obviously too tired right now to do so. 

“She was late! She should get suspended, or expelled if you ask me. How does she always get away with everything? Just because she’s class president doesn’t mean she should get special treatment. My father will hear about this!” Chloe spoke a mile a minute, and Alya could just _feel_ the entire class rolling their eyes. Alya sighed. Marinette’s fate was sealed; Alya just hoped it wouldn’t be too harsh. 

“You’re right, Chloe. Marinette was late,” Miss Bustier commented. Alya noticed Marinette shrink in her seat. “That’s a week’s detention for you, Marinette.”

Marinette nodded, defeated. Alya looked over at Chloe, who had the most annoying smug look on her face. Alya was mad, but took a deep breath and calmed down. She reached over and grabbed Marinette’s hand, trying to comfort her. She wished she could do more. 

Alya looked ahead at Nino. The gears in her head started turning, and she smirked. Maybe there _was_ something Alya could do for Marinette.

\------------------------------------------------------------

When lunch break started, Alya turned to Marinette, who seemed lost in her own thoughts.

“Hey girl, I’m really sorry but I can’t do lunch today.” Alya hoped she wouldn’t be too mad.

“It’s okay, Ali, I’ve got to go home and tell my parents I’m stuck in detention, anyway,” Marinette said, trying to laugh it off half-heartedly. Alya patted her on the back.

“Good luck!” she said, giving Marinette two thumbs-ups. She waved and quickly moved out into the hallway, where she noticed Nino walking uncharacteristically by himself. 

“Nino!” She called out, moving quickly to catch up to him. He turned around to look at her, and stopped moving until she caught up.

“Hey A, what’s up?” Nino asked as he made some finger-gun motion with his hands. 

“You’re not with Adrien today?” It was an observation, but she wanted to know where Adrien was. She didn’t want him to overhear her plan. 

“Yeah, the dude still seems pretty out of it. He says he’s sick but I think something else is up. He’s probably only in school ‘cause his pops won’t let him miss any more days. But he doesn’t want to hang yet, you know?” Nino said, as they exited through the school’s main entrance. 

Alya nodded. Nino seemed worried about his friend, and that was something she could definitely relate to. 

“Well, I have a plan to cheer him _and_ Marinette up from all that Chloe-BS. _If_ you’re interested.” Alya eyed him deviously. Nino grinned.

“Whatever it is, I’m game,” Nino said.

“We can discuss the details over lunch,” Alya said, mentally patting herself on the back.

\-------------------------------------------------------------

Adrien sat in the back of the family limo as it pulled up to his house. When his driver opened the door, he slung his school-bag over his shoulder and slunk out of the car and into his house. Natalie was waiting for him in the foyer, clipboard in hand, as she did everyday. 

“Dinner is scheduled for 7, and you have piano lessons at 8. Homework is expected to be completed before dinner. That’s it for today, any questions?” Natalie didn’t sound like she actually wanted him to ask her anything. 

“I understand.” Adrien responded in a way that felt almost robotic to him at this point. He moved upstairs to his room and immediately took out his homework. He didn’t have much to do, just a few math problems and some reading. Still, Adrien couldn’t help but be jealous of his Kwami, who was content with napping on his bed for the rest of the night. 

After twenty minutes of staring at his textbooks and accomplishing nothing, Adrien groaned, stirring Plagg. 

“Can’t you see I’m trying to get some beauty sleep over here?” Plagg said melodramatically. Adrien rolled his eyes and moved over to where Plagg was laying down. He lifted his Kwami, fully waking him. Adrien took off his scarf and threw it on his bed. He didn’t need that right now.

“It’s time to go, Plagg. Claws out!” Adrien shouted, absorbing Plagg into his ring and transforming into Chat Noir. 

\----------------------------------------------------

Chat had no idea where he was going. He jumped from rooftop to rooftop, determined to just keep moving. He wasn’t thinking about a destination. All he knew was that he wanted to go as fast as he could. 

Chat rushed across the rooftops, racing the thoughts in his mind. He had to move faster than they were. He had to beat them. Ladybug. Akumas. Being rejected. Plagg. Nino. That guilt that kept growing. Not being good enough for Ladybug. For his father. For Paris. Not being good enough for his friends. For Nino. For Alya. For Marinette.

Marinette. 

Chat stopped moving. Here he was, standing on top of the roof of the school he goes to, in the middle of the day. And walking by herself, was his classmate, Marinette. 

Chat thought it was weird to see her walking alone—usually she was with Alya— but remembered class that morning and how Chloe had talked the teacher into giving Marinette detention. She must’ve just gotten out. 

Without thinking, Chat descended the building and landed next to his classmate. What was he doing?

“Chat?” She instantly started looking around. “Is everything okay? Is there an akuma? Are people in danger?” 

“Oh no, princess, everything is purrfect. I just thought I would take a stroll on such a lovely day,” Chat said, calming Marinette. “And what are you doing out today?” 

“I uh...I got detention.” She admitted, looking up at the black-clad superhero. 

“Oh no, that’s too bad! What happened, you get into a catfight?” Chat regretted the words as soon as he said them. Marinette punched him in the shoulder. 

“That’s sexist! And rude! Bad kitty!” she berated. Chat put his hands up defensively, trying to appease her. He realized that he had never seen this side of her before. She was always so different when she interacted with him in class. 

“You’re right, I’m sorry. Bad habits.” Chat smiled down at her, hoping she’d accept his apology. She looked back up at him curiously. 

“Hey Marinette,” Chat whispered to her. She didn’t say anything. “Are we friends?”

She took a step back from him and Chat willed himself not to step forward in response. God, he hoped he wouldn’t be rejected twice in three days. Especially from a girl in his class and his only intention is friendship. Of course, she doesn’t know that they go to school together. They had only interacted one time before. Stupid, stupid cat. His mind started racing again.

“I guess we are. Are you okay?” Marinette said cautiously, stopping his thoughts altogether. “Did you want to talk?” 

Without thinking, Chat grabbed her by the waist and scaled the school building. Marinette’s face was pressed up against his chest. The closeness did not go unnoticed. He let her down when they reached the roof.

“I hope you’re not afraid of heights,” he said playfully. 

“Nope. But a warning before grabbing me next time would be appreciated.”

“As you wish, princess.” 

A moment of silence passed over them, as Marinette stood on the roof, looking up expectantly at her costumed kidnapper. He broke the silence first.

“I don’t know what to do.” Chat knew it was probably risky to talk to a civilian about this stuff. But he was desperate. He obviously couldn’t talk to Ladybug about it. And Plagg was nice, but he just didn’t understand human emotions a lot of the time. His father wouldn’t listen to him and his friends… well. He had to keep his identity a secret.

“About what?” Marinette asked, eyebrows furrowed with concern. Chat took a deep breath and set his pride aside.

“I’m kind of in love with Ladybug.” He paused to study her reaction. She didn’t seem surprised or upset in any way. Maybe she was one of those LadyNoir shippers he saw online. “Anyway, I finally worked up the courage to confess to her, but she rejected me. She said there’s someone else. I’m trying as much as I can to move past it, but it’s eating me alive inside and I don’t have anybody to talk to about it. I can’t function.”

Suddenly Chat wished it wasn’t daytime. He wished it was late at night and he could use the darkness to hide his emotions in a way that his mask couldn’t.

“I’m so sorry, Chat. I can’t imagine how that feels. You don’t have anybody you can talk to about this? No friends?” She looked directly at him, not avoiding eye contact. It was a weird thing for Chat to see from Marinette, someone he was used to only talking to in groups. And she usually didn’t seem to want to talk to him for long. 

“I have friends. It’s just… how do I talk to them about my life as a superhero? I’m kind of supposed to be keeping my identity a secret.” Chat honestly wondered how long someone could live this kind of life, where nobody knows his identity. Part of him had always hoped that he and Ladybug would be able to reveal themselves to each other, so they could have an ally outside of the costumes. 

“I think that if you’re having a hard time, then you should talk to your friends. You don’t have to reveal your identity if you don’t want to. But your friends can still help.” Chat noticed Marinette bite her lip in thought.

That concept bounced around in his head for a minute. He could tell a friend. Sure, it would be the partial truth, but he wouldn’t have to be alone. Of course. Why hadn’t he thought of this? 

“Yeah, yeah I guess I will. Thank you, princess.” He grabbed her hand and kissed it as a gesture of gratitude. 

“Anytime,” she said, grinning. “I’m happy to help. But, um, Chat? Could you maybe put me back on the ground? I kind of need to get home.”

“Of course!” he responded automatically, feeling embarrassed from keeping her for so long.

He offered out his hand this time, waiting until she put hers in it before picking her up and climbing back down off the roof. He realized they could just walk through the building, but that didn’t feel very Chat-like. 

Back on the ground, Chat realized it was getting late and he had dinner coming up pretty soon. He couldn’t stay. 

“I’ve got to go. But thank you very much for the chat,” he said with a wink. “I’m feeling much better thanks to you.” He meant the words, and his heart was pounding when she looked up and smiled at him. She practically skipped away, and Chat told himself he would try and talk to her more as Adrien.

\---------------------------------------------------

_Beep. Beep. Be—_

Marinette’s alarm went off and she flew out of bed. Today was her last day of freedom. Sure, she had detention after school, but tomorrow is when she had to start waking up and helping at the bakery in the mornings. Now _that_ was punishment. 

Today was Saturday, so it was a shorter school day than the rest of the week. Marinette knew that if she wanted to give Adrien her gift, she’d have to do it first thing or she wouldn’t get another chance. She already felt her nerves rising up, but she did her best to ignore them as she got ready for school. She was just glad she was able to finish it last night, even with detention setting back her schedule.

Marinette was tearing through her closet when she heard her kwami’s voice. She was surprised, since she thought Tikki would sleep in a little longer. 

“Marinette, it’s raining.” Tikki was hovering by the window.

Marinette quickly turned to look outside. It wasn’t storming, but there was definitely a steady flow of rain falling. It would probably be harder to run into Adrien in the morning, if he wasn’t hanging outside at his normal spot. Despite that, Marinette perked up. She loved rainy days; this must have been a sign of good luck.

“I know exactly what I’m going to wear!” Marinette exclaimed to Tikki as she hurriedly scavenged through her closet. Tikki glided next to Marinette, trying to see what she was looking for. Marinette pulled out one of her own dress designs that she had been saving to wear for a special occasion. And this definitely counted as a special occasion. 

The dress was sky blue, with an A-line skirt that fell just above Marinette’s knees. The top had a round neckline and was covered in floral white lace. Best of all, it was soft, and made Marinette feel more confident. 

Marinette put on the dress and lost some of her nerves. She put her hair in her signature pigtails and put on her bright pink rainboots. She loved wearing bright colors on rainy days; she always felt it helped to cheer people up.

“You look great, Marinette!” Tikki exclaimed. “Adrien is sure to notice!”

Marinette blushed. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. On the one hand, he could notice her and fall in love and ask her out and they could get married and have three kids and live happily ever after. On the other hand, Adrien noticing her absolutely terrified Marinette. 

Marinette looked at the time. She was much earlier than normal, but was still pushing her luck if she wanted to have enough time to give him his present. The gift was a small box, wrapped in shiny blue wrapping paper, with a simple white bow on the top. And on the very outside was a small sticker that had her name on it. She didn’t forget it this time.

“Okay Tikki, time to go!” Marinette exclaimed, opening up her backpack for her little kwami to hide in. She zipped her up, put on her backpack, and grabbed her umbrella before heading downstairs. The umbrella matched her boots, except it had white polkadots on it. It was her favorite. 

Marinette made sure to grab a couple of pastries for Tikki before running out the door.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Holding the wrapped-box for Adrien in one hand and the umbrella in the other, Marinette walked to school. There were puddles all around her, and Marinette had to fight the urge not to jump in one in excitement. 

As she arrived at school, she couldn’t believe her luck. Almost all of the students were inside already to avoid the rain, but standing in a corner under the outside roof were Adrien and Nino. Her heart started pounding and Marinette felt flustered, but slowly she walked over to them. Her hands tightened into a death grip on the gift. And then she heard Adrien’s voice.

“There’s this girl….and I’ve liked her for a long time now.”

What? 

Adrien likes someone? Marinette’s heart did a backflip. She panicked, and hid around a corner wall from where they were talking. She had her umbrella to keep her dry, but she still felt scared. She didn’t mean to overhear this conversation. But now she had nowhere to go. 

“Yo dude who is she? Do I know her?” Marinette heard Nino talking now. She really needed to not be listening in on this. She tried to sneak away, and not be noticed. She just had to get around the corner, past the boys, and through the doors they were standing next to without getting noticed. Easy.

“Actually, I confessed to her…” Adrien trailed off just as Marinette was passing by them. She heard it. She wanted to pretend she hadn’t, but she had. Adrien liked someone else. And he confessed to her. Which meant it couldn’t have been Marinette. Her chest suddenly weighed a thousand pounds, and she couldn’t stop the sharp intake of breath that she made. 

Nino and Adrien looked up at the sound of Marinette’s arrival. She did not want to look upset in front of Adrien. She had to pull herself together, play it cool.

“Hi. Um, I was just, you know, showing to ghoul. I mean, going to cool. School! I mean, uh, I had a, nevermind. Um, sorry. Nevermind!” She felt like she was going to cry, so she turned around and ran. She kept running as fast as she could, as far away from Adrien and the school as possible. It took a few minutes, before she realized she was getting soaked.

She realized she must’ve dropped her umbrella. Her favorite umbrella. She could go back for it, but that would risk running into Adrien again. Adrien who liked another girl. Adrien who didn’t like Marinette. Adrien who confessed to another girl and was probably going to start dating her now. 

Marinette looked down at the box in her hands. At least she didn’t drop the gift.

_Like it matters now._

She stopped moving, and just stood on the sidewalk, letting the rain pour over her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh!! FINALLY finished this chapter. I'm sorry it took so long...holiday stuff really took up a lot of my time. >


	4. Walls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so sorry for the almost 3 month wait for this chapter. I swear I'm getting back into rhythm of writing every day! Stick with me, I will finish this fic eventually. I love these dorks. I also updated the rating just because I curse a lot and I might not remember to censor myself.

Adrien bent down to pick up the umbrella Marinette had dropped, uncertain of what had just happened. The rain was picking up, so he quickly stepped back under the cover of the roof, next to a wide-eyed Nino. Adrien was used to seeing Marinette run away from him; he was _not_ used to seeing his best friend look so terrified. He realized Nino’s gaze was looking past Adrien, so he braced himself and turned around to see what was the matter. 

Standing in the rain, soaking wet was a sight much scarier than any akuma he’d ever faced. Alya. With her eyebrows furrowed and mouth tight, she looked absolutely pissed. 

“What happened? Where’s Marinette?” she demanded from the boys, clearly having witnessed her run off. Adrien turned to look at Nino, who was shaking his head furiously, clearly not wanting to answer the question. Adrien had no idea what was happening. 

“I don’t know. She was just here, and sort of ran away, like she always does?” Adrien didn’t mean to make it sound like a question. Alya stared at him, hard, for what seemed like hours. Eventually, however, she seemed to decide his answer was satisfying and she just let out a deep sigh. Her focus snapped to Nino, and she marched over to him.

“We need to talk. Now.” Alya grabbed Nino by his arm and pulled him inside. Adrien deflated a little. He had never really gotten a chance to tell Nino what was going on with him. 

Adrien looked out into the rain, wondering about Marinette. Why had she run off away from school? Why had Alya seemed so mad? And why did Adrien feel like he did something wrong? Everything felt off. He thought about going to find her when he heard screams and a loud crash. Adrien quickly looked around to make sure he was still alone before freeing his kwami from inside his jacket pocket. He hid his stuff, along with the umbrella, behind a bench before transforming.

“Plagg, claws out!”

\--- 

Chat was running through the rain and toward the noise until he reached a large crowd of people. They weren’t moving. It was almost as if they were frozen with fear. He navigated through the frozen crowd of people to the front, where he found the akuma responsible. 

Before him was a woman who looked almost inhuman. Her limbs were longer than should be possible, moving with jerking, robotic motions as she made her way through the crowd. As the rain fell toward her, she seemed to be growing longer and more jagged. More people were running away and she too-quickly caught up to them, becoming taller and faster with each step. Chat tried to catch up, but he was left watching in horror as she grabbed the bystanders, leaving them as frozen empty shells on the street.

Chat mentally checked off _avoid contact_ before making himself seen.

“I don’t think today’s your lucky day, Akuma!” Chat asserted to the woman. He looked around for any sign of his partner, and couldn’t decide if he was relieved or worried when he didn’t see her. The akumatized villain snapped her head to look at Chat, and she seemed to spring over to his location. Chat narrowly avoided contact, jumping onto a windowsill above. 

The akuma’s head whipped up, red eyes pinning onto Chat, and screeched, “My name is Madame Glace! And _nobody_ will humiliate me ever again!”

Leave it to the villain to announce their villain-name, every time. Still, he had to figure out a way to put a stop to Madame Glace until Ladybug showed up. He wasn’t sure he was up to seeing her right now, but he knew he needed her. Before long, Madame Glace would grow too powerful for him to stop.

Chat extended his staff past its normal length, and hit it against the akuma’s side, toppling her over. Kneeling on the ground, Madame Glace snapped her head to the side and screamed, shattering some nearby windows.

“Chilling,” Chat remarked, sad that his Lady wasn’t around to hear his pun. He was starting to worry she wouldn’t show, and he didn’t exactly have time to give her a ring on her communicator.

Madame Glace grabbed his staff and froze it, sending a wave of ice back up and toward him. He instinctively dropped his weapon for safety, but immediately felt the threat of being defenseless. Madame Glace saw the opportunity and hurled toward Chat, who was doing his best to outrun the akuma.

“I don’t mean to give you the cold shoulder, but I really can’t stay!” Chat said to his attacker, jumping quickly to the side and narrowly avoided contact. Looking over, Chat saw Madame Glace struggling on the ground and Ladybug pulling back her yoyo. Relief washed over him, and he quickly took his chance to grab his staff, which was still covered in ice. Left with no other choice, Chat used his cataclysm to free his staff and return to the fight to help his partner.

Ladybug looked in control of things, but seemed off for some reason. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but she wasn’t acting normal. Her attacks were on target, but they had less focus, and she was barely looking at him. 

Was she mad at him?

A thought that Chat didn’t want to think he about, he turned his attention back to the battle. Ladybug was still keeping her distance from Madame Glace, who was getting more aggressive. 

“Have you figured out where the akuma is?” Chat asked his partner.

Ladybug nodded as she dodged some falling icicles from above her. “It’s in her bracelet.”

“How do we get close?” 

“I haven’t figured that out yet.” Ladybug pursed her lips. 

Chat’s ring beeped, signaling that he had minutes left to fight. Noticing this, Ladybug used her lucky charm. Chat watched as a hairdryer fell from the sky and into Ladybug’s hands. He stayed quiet as he watched her look around for a solution. He always loved how quickly she came up with an answer.

To give her more time, Chat distracted Madame Glace from Ladybug. He would taunt the akuma and swiftly move out of the way of her attacks. He wasn’t sure how long he could keep it up. 

As Chat narrowly dodged another attack, he landed behind the villain, out of her sight. 

“Is that the best you’ve got?” Chat teased her. In frustration, Madame Glace sent ice shards flying toward a nearby building, breaking down the walls and sending debris everywhere. Chat’s heart froze when he heard his Lady cry out in pain. 

Suddenly, Chat’s vision only focused on his lady and red and immediately moved over toward her. She was standing up with a grimace on her face. She was definitely hurt. 

“Are you okay?” He asked, unaware of the akuma quickly approaching him. 

“I’m fine, I just— Chat, watch out!” Ladybug screamed. Chat turned around just in time to see Ladybug save his life. She had yoyo’d the akuma onto the ground again, this time leaving her tied up. As the akuma struggled in the yoyo string, Ladybug clearly had an idea.

“Chat, ice!” She yelled out to him, pointing at all the icicles hanging on the building above him. He jumped up and knocked them down onto the ground as his ring beeped again. He only had a minute left. He had to be quick. 

Looking down, Ladybug had plugged the hairdryer into a nearby outlet, and was using it on all the fallen ice, melting it onto the now-standing akuma’s feet. Madame Glace laughed and quickly re-froze the water. With the water frozen to her and the ground, Madame Glace was stuck. She struggled against the ice, but the rainfall was only adding to her restraints, keeping her from moving. 

“Chat, the bracelet!” 

Chat dropped down from the story above and used his staff to knock the bracelet off the immobilized akuma. Ladybug took the moment to grab her yoyo back. She stepped on the bracelet, and cleansed the evil, once again restoring everything back to normal, Chat realized.

Almost everything. 

\---

Marinette flopped down onto her bed, immediately taking off her shoes and rubbing her foot. It still hurt, even after using her lucky charm, which she found to be strange. Tikki popped out of her bag with cookie still in her mouth.

“Tikki, why didn’t Lucky Charm fix my foot? It fixes everything else, even Chat when he gets hurt.” Tikki finished her cookie and flew up to look Marinette in the eyes. 

“Marinette, the lucky charm doesn’t work on injuries on the person who cast it, except in the case to rid of any evil akuma’s presence.” Tikki always knew everything, but it surprised Marinette how much she didn’t know.

“So when Timebreaker made two of me, it worked because it was the result of an akuma?” 

“Yes, but if you remember, the effects on you and what you did remained. That’s why Madame Chamack still got her cake.” Tikki looked at Marinette lovingly, knowing she was hurt. “How did this happen? It’s unlike you to let yourself get hurt. Were you distracted because of Adrien?”

Adrien. A name she didn’t want to think about. A name that made her heart feel like it was inflating and being crushed at the same time. 

“No. I mean, yes, he was a part of it.” Marinette got up off of her bed and sat down at her desk. “But Alya was at the fight. She was really close to the action, filming it, when I got hurt. I was distracted by her.”

Marinette logged into the LadyBlog to see any updates. Of course, Alya had already posted tonight’s video, with Ladybug’s injury and all. Watching closer, it was difficult to tell exactly _how_ she had been hurt, though. Ladybug was shrouded with debris, so maybe people wouldn’t be able to tell that a large chunk had fallen on her foot. Maybe with a convincing enough lie, Alya wouldn’t ask her too many questions.

Marinette sighed as Tikki sat on her shoulder. Alya was consistently trying to get closer to the action every time, every fight. Sometimes, like with Timebreaker, Alya would get hurt too. And Marinette couldn’t stand the idea of her best friend getting seriously hurt because of her and her lies. She felt like a bad friend every time she lied to her, even though she knew it was for the best.

More than that, she was a bad partner, too. She was barely able to look at Chat tonight. She had rejected him so easily, it seemed, looking back. He took it so well. And now that she knew how it felt, to be rejected herself, she felt so guilty. Had she put him through that kind of pain? The thought caused her to let out a frustrated groan as she slumped back in her chair. Pushing too hard, she tipped the chair past its balance point and fell backward onto the floor. 

Upside down, her father opened the trap door slightly, with pastries in hand. 

“Honey, are you okay? I heard there was another attack, is that why you’re home from school?” Tom asked his daughter, who simply groaned in response.

\---

Nino had been in class during the whole attack. Miss Bustier had tried to go over the homework, but half the class was missing from the akuma fight, so she just let them self-study. Nino worried about his best bud, whose seat remained empty next to him, despite the fact that they had seen each other just this morning. However, nobody was allowed to leave the classroom until it was deemed safe to do so. Nino put his headphones in, trying to drown out the rainfall against the window, when the classroom door burst open.

Alya walked in, covered in dirt and soaking wet, but looking absolutely ecstatic. She immediately took her seat behind Nino, who turned around to greet the redhead.

“Check out this awesome video I got!” She exclaimed with a huge grin spread across her face, which was a stark change of mood from earlier this morning. Nino watched the video, amazed at how brave Alya was to get so close to the action every time. He looked back over at Adrien’s seat, still worried about him. 

“Hey, are we still on for next Saturday?” Alya asked him with a scheming look on her face. Nino finally looked back at Alya and smiled, too. He _was_ pretty excited for their plan to go into effect. 

“Yes, definitely.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the kudos and comments. I honestly cannot believe I'm STILL getting them months after I've posted my last chapter. This fandom gives me life. <3 <3 
> 
> What could possibly be happening next Saturday? Well, you know. Spoilers. ;)
> 
> Special Thanks to kitmarlowe as always. Couldn't do this without her.


	5. Intel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya has questions. A lot of questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been, like, 8 months since I've updated. I suck, I know. 
> 
> But I haven't given up yet, so please don't give up on me either. <3 Every favorite and comment really keeps me going. You all rock!!

Marinette laid in bed, sulking. She wanted to sleep, but found it too difficult to do so. She kept looking over at her desk, where her present for Adrien sat. By this point, she was very good at hiding her stuff during akuma fights to grab again later. 

The akuma fight. She was not in the right frame of mind to do that today. Honestly, Marinette couldn’t believe that it was _still_ Saturday. Only the gentle noise of the rain against the roof was enough to assure Marinette that not a lot of time had passed. She went to school this morning, briefly, before running off. How could she face Adrien in class right now? Marinette wasn’t sure she could look at him without crying. 

Marinette turned over in bed and found Tikki passed out on her pillow next to her. Her kwami was always tired after an akuma fight. She looked at the clock on her bedside table. It was almost noon. 

School wasn’t even out yet. Marinette internally screamed at how _long_ this day was. She knew school would be letting out very soon though, and she’d have to deal with a concerned Alya asking a lot of questions. And Marinette definitely couldn’t hide her injury, even if she wanted to. She had to be careful. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

Alya watched the clock. While most school days felt long, she was having a hard time believing she was still in class. On a Saturday. Which was a half day. When there was an akuma attack earlier that morning. She had to have been in school for like, two hours tops. And yet it felt like eternity. 

There was a lot on her mind, with the awesome video of Ladybug earlier, Marinette’s sudden disappearance from school, and the guilty look on Nino’s face when her best friend went running. Alya had wanted to go after her, but it was too late. By the time she had seen Marinette scurry off, she was too far away and couldn’t catch up. And honestly, she found herself way more interested in why Nino looked so guilty. 

Once she had interrogated him on the subject fully without Adrien’s presence, she had gotten very little more information. Nino and Adrien were talking about something that Nino conveniently never discussed further. Marinette looked more nervous than usual and upset for some reason. She dropped her umbrella and ran away in the rain. That’s all Nino could offer her. It wasn’t enough.

So here Alya was, sitting in class, staring at the clock and just waiting, pencil tapping erratically along with her thoughts. She needed to know that Marinette was okay. She’s used to her running away from Adrien, but never away from school, too. 

The bell rang. _Finally._ Alya grabbed her already packed up books and bolted out the door. She barely registered Nino call her name but she didn't stop or care, honestly. Marinette was Priority Number One. 

Whipping out her phone, she quickly dialed Marinette’s number, waiting as it rang. And rang and rang and— Voicemail. Of course. Alya hung up, moving faster toward the bakery.

When she arrived, she pushed open the bakery door with a small ding from the bell. Tom and Sabine were working with a few customers in-house, but Sabine saw Alya entered and gave her a silent hello. She gestured toward the ceiling to let Alya know that Marinette was in her room. Alya knew the drill.

Pushing open the latch-door into her best friend’s bedroom, she peeked inside to see Marinette laying on her floor, with her head flopped onto her arm and her limbs sprawled every which way. Alya would’ve thought she was dead if she didn’t notice the obvious breathing.

“Marinette?” Alya whispered, unsure if her friend was sleeping or not.

“Marinette is dead. Only a ghost remains to haunt all of Paris.” Alya heard her friend mumble into her arm. Alya chuckled a little, if only to lighten the mood.

“Come on, girl. Get up. You have to at least tell me what happened.”

When Marinette didn’t move, Alya grabbed her side and pushed her onto her back. Marinette continued to lay down, obviously not in any mood to move or talk. But Alya wasn’t having it, and grabbed Marinette’s hands and hoisted her to a sitting-up position.

Finally, Marinette was looking at her, and it wasn’t a good sight. Her eyes were red and puffy— she had obviously been crying. Her hair was a matted mess, and her clothes damp. Undeterred, Alya got up and started raiding Marinette’s room. She grabbed some dry clothes and handed them to Marinette.

“Shower. Now,” Alya said as she pointed toward the bathroom. Marinette groaned in response, but got up with the clothes and headed for the bathroom. In probably the most concerning development yet, Alya noticed that Marinette was limping. 

She held her tongue. She didn’t want to ask any questions now, with Marinette still in wet clothes. She’d drill her best friend after her shower. But she’d question someone else in the meantime. 

The bathroom door closed shut and Alya heard the shower start. That was her cue to take out her phone and call Nino. He didn’t answer. Growling in frustration, Alya left a voicemail. 

“Nino you son-of-a-bitch, you call me back right now.” She hung up. 

Staring at the clock, with a million questions on her mind, she couldn’t sit still. Maybe six minutes passed before she called him again. After three rings, he picked up.

“Hello?”

“Nino! Answer your damned phone. What didn’t you tell me about this morning? Marinette has been crying and she’s limping! What are you hiding?” she demanded.

“ _Alya?_ ” Nino’s panic came right through the speaker, but it was nothing compared to the irritation Alya felt. 

“Don’t Alya me. What happened with Adrien this morning?”

“Okay, okay, calm—”

“Don’t you dare tell me to calm down.” 

Nino quickly backtracked. “Listen, I’ve got no clue what’s going on, you interrupted us this morning when I was trying to find out!”

“Oh, so this is my fault?” Alya readied herself to lay into Nino -- honestly, who did this boy think he was? — but behind her she could hear the shower turn off. Shit. “Find out what’s going on with Adrien and _text me._ Comprende?”

“Since when do you speak Spanish?” Nino complained.

“Nino!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll text you. If I even get anything out of Adrien. Dude’s Angst meters have been off the chart.”

“Well, you better get _something._ ” And with that, Alya clicked end on her phone. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Adrien’s hands gracefully played the melody on the sheet music in front of him. He allowed himself to get lost in the music filling the room, only accompanied by his breathing and the light rainfall tapping against the roof. He hadn’t felt much like going to his piano lessons after the akuma fight, but a commitment is a commitment. Especially after skipping the rest of school. 

When the song ended, he felt his posture relax as his piano teacher clapped quietly behind him. 

“Bravo, Adrien. I can tell you’ve been practicing your scales. Keep up the good work,” Mr. Michel said. His dark hair was cut short and his glasses were too small for his square face, but he always wore a smile that made Adrien feel calm. Even though the lessons were a part of his father’s request, Adrien did find himself enjoying them a lot of the time. 

Adrien’s phone buzzed against his thigh. A text-alert. Looking at Mr.Michel for approval, who was packing up his things, Adrien pulled out his phone. It was a text from Nino.

**Nino: Arcade?**

Adrien smiled. This was perfect. He was just about to finish up his lessons and then he was free until this evening for a small photoshoot. He could finally talk to Nino about Ladybug. 

**Adrien: Meet you there in 20.**

**Nino: See ya then**

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marinette stared at Alya with a great intensity. She had finally gotten through explaining what she overheard from Adrien this morning. Alya only stared back, looking as if she was concentrating very hard on something.

“I didn’t mean to run away. It’s just...he’s never had a girlfriend before. I can’t compete with that.” Marinette said as her hands fiddled in her lap. The two had finally moved to the lounge chair, with Marinette sitting cross-legged against the back and Alya kneeling at the foot. 

“A girlfriend? You think he has a girlfriend?” Alya said, eyebrows furrowed. Marinette wasn’t sure why Alya found this so puzzling. Marinette thought it was only a matter of time before he started dating, what with his modeling-good looks and beautiful laugh and amazing talent at everything he does and—

Alya was texting. Marinette was daydreaming again and she looked up to find her best friend texting furiously into her phone. This could not be good.

“Who are you texting?” She asked. Alya held up her phone and smiled.

“Nino. I’m a reporter, aren’t I? I’m gonna get to the bottom of this.” 

“What? No! No no no no no!” Marinette immediately dove for the phone, but Alya was quick to react and pulled it out of reach. “You can’t! Then Nino will know that I’m asking and he’ll figure out that I like Adrien! And then he’ll tell Adrien and I’ll die!” 

“Whoa, girl, calm down.” Alya said, getting up off the lounge chair. Marinette stayed sitting, waiting with baited breath for her friend to explain.

“First of all, I’m not bringing you into the conversation at all. Nino won’t have a clue,” Alya reasoned. Marinette nodded, calming down some. “Second of all, Nino already knows you like Adrien.”

“He—What?!” Marinette practically screamed. “Oh no, no no no, this is so much worse than I thought.” She hugged her knees to refrain from pulling at her hair too hard.

Alya put her phone in her pocket and grabbed Marinette’s shoulders. 

“Girl, how could he not know? It’s not like you’re exactly subtle. I’m pretty sure everyone in the class knows about your not-so-secret crush. Well, everyone except Adrien. Besides, Nino wouldn’t tell him. I threatened to punch him in the face if he did,” Alya said seriously, “and somewhere worse.” Alya gave her a sympathetic smile and squeezed her shoulders as she sat back down on the chair, scooting Marinette back. 

Marinette deflated with the realization that Nino and Alya had discussed her love life, or, lack thereof. But if her best friend was good for anything, and she was good for a lot, it was intel.

“So,” Marinette said, biting her lip. “What’d he say?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HAVE NO IDEA WHEN THE NEXT CHAPTER IS COMING. I have lots I want to do though. 
> 
> Thank you again SO much for reading! Please let me know what you think and what you want to see happen with these two. :)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you soooo much to kitmarlowe for beta-ing this for me! This is my first time writing fanfiction in like, 6 years so I'm definitely more than a bit rusty. 
> 
> I have a very vague idea of where this story is going so I am 100% open to suggestions and ideas! <3
> 
> (This work is inspired highly by the music of Lauren Aquilina. She's the best.)


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